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Wednesday, 30 May 2012

We Won! "In the Night Garden" Live Show

I won my first ever blog giveaway! Woo Hoo! I was so excited when I got an email from the lovely Jenny at "Treading on Lego" I did a happy dance. An actual bona fidey, bum wiggling, high fiving happy dance! The Wee Man thought I'd gone crazy but then I told him what we'd won and he joined in with his own street dance version of a happy dance.

And what a wowser of a giveaway I'd won. A family ticket to the VIP Gala performance of "In the Night Garden Live" at the O2. Note the "VIP" and the "Gala". That's right we've gone up in the world. VIPs r Us.

The Wee Man has always, always loved In the Night Garden (ITNG). He use to do baby signing as a tot and he made up his own ITNG sign. He'd hold his hand out flat and trace circles on his palm with his finger (just like the start of every ITNG). Took me a while to figure out what he meant but I got there in the end. We've spent many, many happy hours watching Iggle Piggle's antics.

The Big Man worked on the TV programme so he has a love hate relationship with it. But we won't mention that. Though I can understand how watching ITNG for 10 hours every day for 12 months could drive anyone a wee bit potty.

On Saturday we put on our glad rags and headed to the O2. It took a while to find the Night Garden cos the O2 is mahoosive! We wandered about for a bit aimlessly then the Wee Man spotted this...

Cue, happy dance. Though a more sanitised version suitable for public viewing. How fantabulous is that?! "Ha Hoo! Ha Hoo! Ha Hoo!" and so it went on until the Big Man put a stop to our silliness.

The Wee Man was given a very huge and heavy goodie bag filled with ITNG goodies. I must admit some of the stuff was a wee bit too young for him but he loved his illuminating windmill thingie that spun round. We were treated to some delicious treats. Filled croissants, bagels, pastries, fruit kebabs anyone? I'd of course packed some treats for the Wee Man too.

After a wee wait and an interview with a lovely presenter and camera crew (the Wee Man, not us) the doors were opened and we took our seats. The theatre is laid out so that wherever you sit you get a very good view of the stage. There's plenty of space for children to get on their feet and dance or do whatever children want to do.

Another wait for the VVIPs (Very Very Important People) to take their seats and some celeb spotting for the Big Man and me. I saw Emma Forbes and Sara Cox. I didn't recognise anyone else but I'm pretty rubbish at things like that. People always look different in real life to what they do on the telly or newspapers, don't you think?

Spot the Big Man. Hint He's also affectionately known as the Baldy Man.

The show was unbelievably fantastic. The way they've stage managed it is amazing with panoramic projections and puppets of varying sizes but that's from a Big Person's perspective.

From a Wee Man perspective, it was magical. It was a fully "immersive theatrical performance". That's the fancy way of saying it felt as if we were actually in the Night Garden. He loved seeing Iggle Piggle fall down and we all especially loved Makka Pakka's dance. The Wee Man danced and sang with Makka Pakka and I may have joined in too. ;0) Makka Pakka seems to be the Big Person favourite as was evident when we all went "Aw!" when he came on the stage.

It's a show that every child should experience, because it really is an experience. It's so much more than just a show.

The show will be touring the UK with dates at the O2, Richmond, Brent Cross (London), Manchester and Birmingham. Tickets are very reasonable priced from £10 - £27.50. I say reasonable because you get a very good view wherever you sit in the theatre. So £10 seems very, very reasonable. There are two different shows, each running for just under an hour. Which I think is the right duration for a children's show.

And the bestest, bestest bit of the day for the Wee Man? It was of course this...

Disclaimer: I have not been asked to write this blog post about In The Night Garden Live. I won tickets on a blog giveaway. I thought the show was so fantastic that I wanted to share my experience with everyone. So what are you waiting for? Go book some tickets!